NA v LA Case- 2024
The decision in NA v LA [2024] of Nicholas Allen KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) has cleared up any lingering questions as to how vigorously the court would promulgate the new rules brought in at the end of April 2024.
Following the Court of Appeal decision in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil last year, and then the much-trumpeted changes to Part 3 of the Family Procedure Rules from 29 April 2024, there was much commentary that we were on the cusp of a major cultural change in the court’s willingness to permit parties simply to opt out of NCDR. Mrs Justice Knowles’ decision in X v Y provided confirmation that it would very much not be business as usual, once the rules had changed…
Now, less than a month later, we have the first reported decision where the court has, of its own initiative, stayed proceedings in order to encourage NCDR despite the objections of a party. In NA v LA, there had been no consideration of NCDR before the hearing. The wife’s case was that she knew little about the husband’s financial position and sought orders for disclosure from the court before NCDR could be considered. The judge roundly rejected that position, emphasising that ‘There is no need for financial disclosure to be given prior to parties engaging in NCDR. NCDR will almost invariably provide for such disclosure to be given as part of the process’ (para 15) and that this was ‘a paradigm case for the court to exercise its new powers’ (para 31).
The outcome was that the judge stayed the proceedings and declined to list any hearing, instead directing a joint letter from the parties indicating (i) what engagement (if any) there has been with NCDR; (ii) whether any of the issues in the proceedings have been resolved; and (iii) in light of the foregoing their respective proposals for the way forward.
This is a radical departure from the practice under the old Part 3 rules governing NCDR. We can surely expect much more of this as the rules bed in.
You can read more here: NA v LA – Find case law – The National Archives
Author Name: Editor
Published content by The Divorce Surgery Editorial Team.
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